Waters Corporation has launched Waters AI Link, a software capability that brings Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) to its informatics platform and joins Anthropic’s Model Hardware Standard (MHS) research program.
Dave Leitham, vice president, Informatics, Waters Corporation, said: “Our strategy is simple. In research, we connect AI agents to both the data and the instruments that generate it so that scientists can move at the speed of AI. That work carries forward on the same platform through development, then into Empower Software, the compliant system of record, as a molecule reaches quality control.”
From research to release
Together, Waters AI Link and the Model Hardware Standard (MHS) aim to enable scientists to control analytical instruments and connected laboratory devices through Claude, Anthropic’s AI platform, and autonomous AI agents.
Its cloud-enabled waters_connect Software supports instrument control, data acquisition, and scientific workflows for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).
By connecting AI models with laboratory systems, researchers can transfer workflows between computational research and physical experimentation.
AI agents can test hypotheses, capture measurements, and feed results back into models to refine predictions and design subsequent experiments. These workflows can transition into development environments using Empower Software, supporting continuity as molecules advance through research and development.
Waters AI Link integrates the MCP, an open standard that connects AI models and agents to software and data. Through natural-language interfaces, agents can create methods, run acquisitions, process results, and coordinate connected devices without custom integration.
MHS, an open specification developed by Anthropic and scientific research institutions, simplifies AI-agent control of physical laboratory equipment. It reduces integration timelines from weeks or months to hours or minutes, enabling overnight experiments, real-time parameter adjustments, automated error recovery, and continuous laboratory operations.
